Ault prison progress slow

Two months ago, the state awarded the Geo Group the right to build a 1,500-bed medium security men’s prison in Ault, but so far, progress has been slight.

A town meeting in July lured about 300 in protest of a prison in their backyard. Opponents worry about prison breaks, the caliber of employees, and the potential for a prison to attract criminals. Proponents of the prison say their dying town needs some development, and a prison is a clean industry that would bring commerce and jobs. The prison would be located on roughly 40 acres in the southwest part of town, east of the railroad tracks parallel to U.S. 85.

Since the initial discussions, however, there are still no decisions. The Geo Group has not presented the town with a potential contract, and the town board has yet to decide if a contract with the private prison would have to be approved by the board or the residents.

Those involved, however, insist there is progress but won’t elaborate.

The company is working with developers, contractors, financiers and the state Department of Corrections to come up with a plan, but the initial hiccup comes with the state, which will not guarantee to Geo’s satisfaction the number of beds that could be filled. Geo officials updated the town board in a work session last week.

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“Basically, in a public meeting, it was stated that they’d want at least a 90 percent guarantee,” said Sharon Sullivan, Ault’s town clerk. “And that’s truly a matter of finances.”

Apparently, the prison’s financing interest rates are dependent upon the number of beds the prison can fill, said Tracey McCoy, Ault’s police chief, who initiated discussions on getting the prison to come to town. He said the concern would be that if the Geo Group doesn’t get the guarantee it wants, they may not be able to afford the project.

The state does not make a habit of giving private prisons guarantees on filling beds, said Brent Parker, director of communications for the Colorado Department of Corrections. He said the state is now researching the pros and cons of giving such guarantees, but as of yet, the state has no answers.

Geo officials would not comment on the progress of discussions with the state or the town of Ault.

But the company is talking about a number of issues, said Pablo Paez, spokesman for Geo Group, a publicly traded company based in Florida that operates private prisons worldwide. “No decision has been made.”

When the company first approached the town board, the Geo group had suggested the prison would bring upward of 350 jobs to the area. Geo would manage the prison under a potential $28 million contract from the state (if the 1,500 beds were consistently full), while the town would own it. It would cost from $70 million to $100 million to build.

Geo officials suggested forwarding to the town an annual impact fee of up to $250,000, plus $30,000 a year in local scholarships. Geo also would pay for upgrading the town’s water and sewer systems to accommodate the increased capacity.